Life on standby
by Jens the Homo
Summary: The weird thing about Kise Ryouta is that he always refuses any invitation to socialise after school hours. Luckily Aomine and Kagami are determined to make a change to that - or at least find out the reason.
1. Prologue

**Warnings:** AU.

* * *

Kise Ryouta is without a doubt the most popular guy at the university. In fact, he's like an idol; practically everyone recognises his name and the days he doesn't get asked out are rare.

The weird thing about him, though, is that he always refuses to hang out with people outside of school. He doesn't do it in a mean way; he always apologises profusely and seems genuinely sorry about not being able to go, but declines the invitations nonetheless.

This, of course, raises lots of questions and curiosity among his fellow students. He probably does have a part-time job as he says he does but there are times he says he's otherwise occupied without caring to specify and, well, that leaves space for all kinds of speculations. One of the most popular stories going around the school is that Kise's a teen age father whose parents have left him to fend on his own with his kid.

* * *

"Wouldn't that be just like from a soap opera?" Aomine says dryly as he listens to some girls squeal about Kise (because really, who else could make them squeal like that?) and how he's surely 'an orphan boy who has to work hard to pay for his school expenses'. His roommate Kagami snorts.

"Well the way he's so popular among everyone seems already a bit unrealistic to me. I mean has the guy ever agreed to hang out with someone outside of school? And yet he still gets asked to every party and gathering there is," the redhead says and goes back to stuffing his mouth with astonishing amounts of food.

"I heard he used to model for a bit when he was younger. Like in middle school." Aomine yawns and leans back on his chair. "He was apparently gaining some name when he suddenly quit."

"Wow, someone's done some serious research," Kagami says with a wide grin. Aomine kicks him under the table.

"I haven't, I just heard some girls talking about it."

They fall into a comfortable silence for a moment before Kagami finishes his lunch and continues the conversation. "But you know, I am kind of curious to know what demands all of his time. If I were him, I probably wouldn't accept all of the invitations either, but turning them all down doesn't seem the best way to handle the situation either. Isn't he just going to end up alone if he refuses people all the time?"

Aomine shrugs, having already lost interest in the topic. "Maybe he's just a nice guy who doesn't want to hurt anyone's feelings by choosing to hang out with certain people and ignoring someone else."

"…nah, I don't think that's what it is." Kagami checks his phone to see how much time they've got before their next class. When he looks at Aomine again, there's an excited gleam in his eyes. "Hey, I have an idea. Let's have a contest."

At the mention of a contest Aomine becomes interested again. "Ha? About what?"

"The one who figures out why Kise never wants to socialise has to pay for all the food expenses for a month. And the time limit's a month. If neither of us has found out the reason by the end of the month, we'll just let it be."

"…and why would I agree to that? I'm not that interested in what's going on in that guy's head plus sharing the food expenses is almost too much already. I'd go bankrupt if I lost." Aomine slumps back into his seat.

"Scared of losing?" Kagami doesn't really know why he cares so much about Kise either but for some reason he finds it imperative to find out why the blonde doesn't want to make friends. And well, challenging Aomine just happens to be a hobby of his, so why not have some fun while trying to solve the mystery of the famous Kise Ryouta?

Aomine looks annoyed. If he refuses, he's never going to hear the end of it. Kagami will without a doubt keep reminding him that he was so scared of losing that he didn't even try to compete. And damn it, he's not a coward or a loser, he's Aomine Daiki and the only one who can beat him is him.

"You're on," he says with a cocky smirk.

* * *

**A/N:** Blehh this is kinda badly written and stuff but it's kinda to make up for taking so long to update my other fics (again…) so it's not even _supposed_ to be astonishing. Plus I wrote this at like 1 am so the crappy quality is also largely due to that.

In case you didn't guess already, this is gonna be AoKagaKise. There's also the possibility of at least one other pairing but I haven't quite decided yet. How do you guys feel about incest?

Well, let me know if you think this is worth continuing. Otherwise I'll just drop this and start working on some other AoKagaKise idea (and I have a tonne of those so no worries). I think I'll shut up now before this author's note becomes longer than the chapter (prologue actually) itself :'D


	2. Friends

**Warnings:** AU.

* * *

To say Kagami is surprised when he sees Kise walking into the same class as the redhead himself would be a huge understatement. Of course Kise has to share class with other people but for those 'other people' to include Kagami is definitely an unexpected twist.

When he made that stupid bet with Aomine, he didn't actually think either of them would find out Kise's secret, because neither of them shared any classes with him or hung out with the same people as the blonde.

But now, Kise's in the same room as him and the blonde's alone to boot. In other words, it's a chance Kagami has to take. A chance at winning the bet.

"Sorry, is this seat taken?"

Slightly surprised, Kise looks up and damn, Kagami's never seen him this close before. It's obvious even from a distance but the blonde's really way too pretty for a guy; seriously, what is with those long and dark lashes?

"Um, it's not taken but…" Kise trails off, sounding confused. Kagami can understand why – there are still plenty of seats available so he doesn't actually _need_ to sit next to Kise.

"Sorry about butting in like this, I just thought it'd be nice to get to know someone in my class and since you were alone, I figured we could maybe… sit together?" Kagami can feel himself blushing and curses inwardly. Why does he have to be so easily embarrassed?

Kise tilts his head to the side and suddenly starts smiling. "Well I guess it's fine," he says and extends a hand. "I'm Kise Ryouta, nice to meet you."

_(I already know that…)_

"Kagami Taiga," Kagami says out loud and shakes Kise's hand. Even the hand is pretty and delicate, with long, slender fingers and perfectly even nails. According to Aomine, the blonde hasn't modelled for years, but he apparently still likes taking good care of his looks.

When Kise pulls his hand away, a friendly smile adorning his lips, Kagami can't help but miss the contact. There's something very charming about the blonde, something that makes Kagami want to get out of class and just talk, get to know Kise better, and just when he finishes that train of thought he realises that it must be that very charm that makes people ask Kise out again and again, no matter how many times he declines.

_And that reminds me, the reason I'm sitting next to Kise is because I'm supposed to find out why he's so distant. _

* * *

When class ends, Kagami feels uncomfortable. He talked to Kise, and the guy seemed friendly enough, but should he wait for the blonde or just say bye and leave? He gathers his things and checks his phone, doing everything as slowly as possible in the hope that maybe Kise would solve the situation for him, but the blonde stays quiet. Finally, Kagami chances a glance to his side and sees Kise holding his phone, apparently writing a text message.

"Who are you texting?" _(Oh god, that was too pushy wasn't it? We only just met…)_

"Hm? Oh, a friend of mine. We're going to have lunch together." Kise presses send and turns to Kagami. "Well, I guess I'll see you at next class. Unless you want to join us for lunch?"

"Oh… thanks for the offer but I'm going to eat with my roommate," Kagami says and feels himself blushing again even though there's no reason for it. _And what's with Kise asking me to have lunch with him, isn't he supposed to reject everyone who tries to approach him?_

Kise cocks his head to the side, looking a bit confused again (Kagami really wishes he could will the redness in his cheeks down), and regards the redhead in silence for a few seconds. Then he claps his hands together and exclaims, "That's fine, you both can join us!"

"Eh? That's okay, I don't want to disturb you and your friend-"

"Come on, please come. There aren't that many people in this school that would talk to me without trying to make me go to some stupid party," Kise says and before Kagami has a chance to answer to that, the blonde's already dragging him by the arm. "It'll be fun, and you can never have too many friends, right?"

_You could be friends with everyone in this school if you wanted,_ Kagami thinks dryly but something tells him not to say it out loud. Kise's smiling and seems to genuinely be having a good time, and Kagami doesn't want to dampen the mood.

And that's totally not because Kise's really, really cute when he smiles and Kagami wants to keep seeing that. Nope, nothing to do with that.

As they approach the cafeteria, Kise still holding Kagami by the arm, the redhead can't help but notice all the jealous stares people are casting at him. Kagami feels uncomfortable; he's not used to being the centre of attention like this.

_What right do they even have to be jealous? It's not like they're making an effort to approach Kise themselves._

Kagami's startled out of his thoughts as Kise leans closer to him and mutters under his breath, "I'm sorry about all the staring. Everyone I hang out with has to put up with it. And that might just be why I don't have that many friends." Kise laughs but there's definitely hurt in his eyes. Kagami feels a sudden urge to hug the blonde.

_For real? Anyone who associates with Kise has to put up with this? What the heck… aren't they just making it impossible for him to make normal friends?_

"So, um, if you don't want to have lunch with me because of this then…" Kise trails off and finally releases Kagami's arm.

"Hey, you feel lonely right? I mean, they have no right to feel jealous of your friends if they don't even try to talk to you. So no way am I leaving you alone right now, I'm going to call Aomine and we'll eat with you."

Kise gains a slight blush to his cheeks. "...you're really nice."

"Um, no, it's not…" Well fuck, this guy really gets to Kagami in the weirdest ways. To avoid answering, he fishes his mobile out of his pocket and calls Aomine.

"What's up?"

"I made progress," Kagami says with a cocky smirk. Aomine makes a noise, indicating he wants an explanation as to what kind of progress Kagami's talking about.

"Kise's in one of my classes and I sat next to him. We talked and he even invited me to have lunch with him and a friend of his. So get your ass to the cafeteria, we're eating with them." After saying everything necessary Kagami promptly hangs up, leaving Aomine no room to complain.

Kagami knows how bad Aomine is at taking commands so seeing the bluenette turn up only minutes later, even though he doesn't look too happy about it, is a pleasant surprise. After being introduced to Kise, Aomine pulls Kagami aside.

"So? Are we just going to act all nice to him? I have no interest in making friends with him. Or his friend, whoever he might be."

"Come on, this is a great chance for us to get to know him. You know, for the bet."

Aomine looks at Kagami like he just said something incredibly stupid. "You do realise that it would've been better for you to not have told me you're having lunch with Kise? I mean then you'd get the advantage or whatever."

"I did think of that but I figured you'd get suspicious if I just ditched you without explaining a thing."

They stare at each other for a moment before Aomine shrugs. "Let's go then, wouldn't want to keep them waiting right?"

* * *

"Nice to meet you, I'm Takao." Kise's friend turns out to be a rather loud guy who keeps staring at Aomine and Kagami with an occasional approving glance at Kise. The blonde blushes, saying 'it's not like that', and shakes his head when Aomine and Kagami look at him questioningly.

"Come on, Takaocchi, I only got to know them today," the blonde whines. Takao laughs and smoothly changes the topic by starting to talk about his girlfriend. Apparently she's a med student which is why they rarely have time to meet nowadays but Takao believes their relationship will make it through.

"She's so cute, you know? I'm really proud of her too, I'm nowhere near smart enough to get into med school and she just there and passed the entrance exam with flying colours. I think we'll get married once we've done with our studies." And so and so on.

People keep staring at them, or Kise more specifically, but strangely enough it doesn't bother Kagami as much anymore. The four of them are sitting together, talking about some random topic, laughing and having fun – it feels like they're friends although they've only just met.

The redhead steals a look at Kise and is overwhelmed with guilt. The blonde looks so excited about finally expanding his social circles and the only reason for that is the stupid bet Kagami forced Aomine into.

He almost feels like calling the bet off right then and there, just to make himself feel better, but he can't. It's only a month; if both of them fail to reveal Kise's secret by then, they can hang out as normal friends. And who knows, maybe the blonde will voluntarily tell them someday?

So no, Kagami's not going to come clean about their motives. Kise would only end up getting hurt and if he really has no friends beside Takao, it wouldn't be fair to him.

Takao gets a call and hurries off a bit earlier, the smile on his face revealing the identity of the caller even without him saying it's his girlfriend. The three remaining at the table share a brief moment of awkward silence before Aomine stretches and gets up.

"I'm done for the day," he announces lazily. "See you at home."

With that the bluenette's gone. Kise smiles at Kagami nervously. "So, um, how long have you two lived together?"

"Me and Aomine? Ever since we got into uni. We've known each other since high school and since we go to the same school, we thought it'd be cool to live together," Kagami replies, feeling like he should make it clear that he's not dating the tanned idiot.

(And it's totally not because he's kind of hoping that Kise would maybe be interested in him.)

"Um, Kagami…" Kise has a faint blush visible on his pale cheeks (_he's so adorable_, Kagami thinks and feels like wanting to punch himself immediately after because _what?!_) "Thank you. So many people talk to me because I'm good-looking and an ex-model so I feel like there isn't anyone who wants to be friends with me just because I'm me… so really, thank you so much."

Kagami scratches his neck, embarrassed. "No problem."

"If you don't mind, could we be friends from now on?" Kise looks at Kagami like a puppy and holy shit, Kagami's never been so strongly attracted to another guy before.

Actually when he stops to think about it, he realises he's never been attracted to _anyone_ quite as much and that scares him a bit.

"Sure."

Kise beams at him, a beautiful flush of excitement adorning his cheeks. "See you at next class then, Kagamicchi!" he exclaims before hurrying off to his next class.

Kagami stays seated at the table, feeling every bit like someone who's just fallen in love.

Kagamicchi?They just met and Kise's calling him by a nickname already?

He is so screwed.

* * *

**A/N:** Since this got positive feedback, I'll be continuing (the updates will most likely be really slow though…). I've already got pretty much the whole storyline figured out but writing it out is difficult plus I'm super critical towards myself so please forgive me if I take a million years :'))

This was a boring chapter and I lost interest so it's badly written, gomen OTL I was hoping to have someone else as Kise's friend but it kinda had to be Takao bc I don't like OCs. I'm not happy about that but then again he's not gonna be a major character so it's fine I guess…

I will definitely work harder next time to produce something that's even remotely good. Also, a word of warning: there's going to be angst. I tried going for a bit fluffier story this time but I'm apparently incapable of that /gross sobbing

Blahh I suck at writing anyway so I'll just hide in a corner now. ._ _.


	3. Flowing through the hour glass

**Warnings:** AU. Strongly hinted KagaKise, some AoKise… probably…

* * *

"I was thinking you might not show up," Kise admits with a nervous smile when he and Kagami have the same class again. Kagami, feeling rather nervous himself, raises an eyebrow.

"Why wouldn't I? I need the course." He sounds composed although summoning up the courage to go walk into the room, greet Kise and sit next to him almost proved to be too much for him; he's always been bad at hiding his feelings and the mere idea of having Kise find out he's crushing on the guy makes him nauseous.

…then again, just thinking about how he might actually have a crush on Kise makes him feel unwell. Not because Kise's a guy, the idea of being bi or whatever doesn't bother him in the least, it's because he really wants to be the blonde's friend and then there's the bet too. And of course the fact they've only talked once makes him feel like he's a shallow person for falling so fast.

"Oh right…" the smile fades and Kise starts fidgeting his hands, avoiding Kagami's eyes.

_Oh man. I just made it even more awkward, didn't I?_ "B-but I was looking forward to talking to you again, Kise!" And of course he has to go all red upon blurting that out. Great, just great.

Kise blushes too and starts smiling again. "Me too," he admits quietly and Kagami's heart jumps into his throat.

He really is screwed.

* * *

"…why are we eating with Kise and his idiot friend again?"

"Come on, it wouldn't hurt you to make more friends either," Kagami says and elbows Aomine in the stomach for good measure. As the bluenette mutters curses and tries to catch his breath again, Kise spots them and waves them over.

"You took so long I thought you might've changed your minds," the blond says with a cute little pout, Takao grinning cheerfully at his side.

"Ahomine always takes long." That earns Kagami a kick in the shin and Kise bursts into laughter.

The lunch goes pretty much the same way as before; Takao takes care of the talking mostly while Kise keeps casting shy glances at both Kagami and Aomine which confuses the redhead but he's too preoccupied with eating to actually bother to ask Kise about it.

Takao takes off a bit earlier again, this time to go get something from the library, but Aomine stays behind to chat with the two others. He acts surprisingly civil with Kise, not making any awkward questions or comments that might reveal the real reason behind Kagami approaching Kise in the first place, and Kise gets all caught up in the conversation, his eyes gleaming with excitement and cheeks slightly flushed.

He looks really good like that too and the fact that Aomine just walks in and gets the blonde going like that with a half-assed attitude causes an uncomfortable pang of jealousy in Kagami. And why the hell is he thinking about whether Kise would make that face in bed?!

"I have to get to class but I'll see you later, right?" Kise's eyes shift from Kagami to Aomine until he gets an affirmative answer from both of them.

His constant need to know he's not going to get ditched piques Kagami's interest, though. Could there be some connection to his weird behaviour towards everyone? Maybe he has some trusting issues or something like that?

Aomine, however, seems to not have noticed anything of the sort; then again, he's an idiot who doesn't notice a lot of other things either so it doesn't really say much.

"Yeah, we'll talk later," Kagami says reassuringly. Kise beams at them both before taking off and if Aomine notices the way Kagami goes completely red in the face, he doesn't say anything.

* * *

"You guys play basketball?! That's so cool! I used to play a bit too!" Kise almost jumps up in his enthusiasm and Kagami scoots back reflexively. Having lunch with Kise almost on a daily basis is great, he really enjoys seeing the blond, but sometimes the guy gets excited about the weirdest things.

"Uh, yeah we do but it's more of a hobby, we don't compete or anything."

"But still! Ohh maybe we could play together sometime?" The blonde's apparently really excited about this new discovery and Kagami's just about to agree (because isn't this a chance to see Kise outside of school? There's no way he'd say no to that) when Kise suddenly seems to remember something and his expression changes. "…no, I can't…" Kise slumps back into his seat, his eyes clouding over with conflicted emotions.

"Why not? Are you injured or something?" Aomine, the king of tact, chimes in. Kagami stomps on his foot under the table which results in a string of muttered curses and a murderous look from the bluenette.

Kise casts his eyes down. "No, that's not it."

That's all they get out of the blond; he clams up and refuses to discuss the subject further. When Kagami turns to Takao for help, the guy just shakes his head with a serious expression.

"I can't tell you," is what he says. Kagami kicks Aomine again as they leave; as a result, Aomine starts sulking because he's 'being treated unfairly' and they don't speak to each other even after reaching home.

Still, Kagami feels really worried. What on earth could have happened to Kise? Could there have been some basketball related incident in his past?

Something traumatic has definitely happened to Kise to make him like this and Kagami's dying to find out what. It's not just because of the bet anymore either; now Kagami has a personal interest. That doesn't remove the problem of not knowing how to find out, though.

Takao seems to know but he's loyal to Kise and wouldn't spill anything even if Kagami asked. Beside Takao, the only person Kagami could ask is Kise himself, and… well, at least at the moment asking that would feel like prying.

_So I'll just wait, right? After the month's over, I won't even have to worry about the bet so I guess waiting's for the best. _With a sigh Kagami throws himself onto the bed. He almost wishes he hadn't made that stupid bet because now he loses sleep over worrying about Kise too much.

* * *

Aomine runs into Kise after class one afternoon and assumes they'll just exchange somewhat awkward greetings since they've never talked to each other with just the two of them there. However, Kise's face lights up and before Aomine knows it, he's being dragged by a gleeful Kise who announces he's going to his part-time job.

"I'm just helping at this small bookshop! It's a family business really but apparently their son is too busy with school to help out so they hired me. You should come by sometime, Aomine-kun, and bring Kagamicchi too!" Kise babbles on and on, giving Aomine no chance to open his mouth. "I usually work on Wednesdays and Fridays but sometimes they call me in if they need an extra hand. So just tell me if you're going to visit and I'll make sure I'm there~~"

When Kise finally shuts up for a moment to breathe, Aomine throws a question. "What's with the nickname? I mean, why's Kagami Kagamicchi and I'm Aomine-kun?"

He's not asking about that because he's bothered by it or anything, he's just curious. Or so he tells himself. The truth is, however, that he's noticed how weird Kagami gets around Kise, blushing whenever the blond smiles at him and stuff, and that weirdness is in an equally weird way kind of contagious.

"Well, I give the nickname to people I respect," Kise replies, his eyes inspecting Aomine curiously.

"Oh."

"…"

After a few more minutes of walking in an awkward silence, they reach the metro station and Aomine sighs. "See you around."

Kise stays behind, fiddling with the handle of his bag. "Does it… bother you, Aomine-kun?"

"What? No." Why did he even bring that name-thing up? Now he feels irritated even though there's no real reason for it and _why_ can't the stupid blond just leave?

"I think you're cool too, though," Kise says hurriedly, probably sensing that Aomine actually is bothered by it. "I just haven't talked to you that much yet."

"Fine then, give me your phone number. Then we can talk more." It's on an impulse and honestly Aomine's not sure if he'll ever call Kise or even text him. But then the blond goes completely red in the face and damn, Aomine feels himself blushing too.

"All right, then you give me yours too, Aomine-kun," Kise says and pulls his phone out. They exchange numbers right there, in the middle of the crowded metro station, and Kise keeps blushing like a school girl.

_I wonder if Kagami's got his number already_, Aomine thinks and immediately wants to take the thought back because why should it matter to him? It shouldn't and it doesn't and he's just being weird now. And for fuck's sake, wasn't Kise in a hurry like five minutes ago? So why is he still standing there?

As if reading Aomine's thoughts, the blonde glances at his watch, his eyes going wide. "It's that late?! Geez, I'm gonna be late… sorry, I have to go now but see you later."

Finally the blond leaves and Aomine stares after him, only snapping out of it once he realises he's actually been staring at Kise's ass.

Seriously, what the fuck is wrong with him today?

* * *

Most of the time Kagami's really glad he doesn't have to live alone. The rent's cheaper, they split all other costs as well, plus having company is pretty cool most of the time. Sometimes, though, Kagami feels like throwing his idiot roommate out of the window. For example, it's always when Kagami's trying to get work done that Aomine starts talking about the most irrelevant things and distracting the redhead.

Like right now.

"I heard about a store that sells basketball stuff, we should go there sometime."

Kagami looks up from his computer. "Sure?"

"My shoes are kinda worn out and stuff so I just figured we could at least go see what the place's like." Aomine yawns loudly and settles into a more comfortable position on the couch. "And it's kinda far from our place so it'd be a change of scenery too."

"Okay, we can go this weekend," Kagami answers distractedly, already focusing on his schoolwork again. Aomine voices his agreement and goes to sleep; Kagami feels like waking him up to make him do his work too but decides not to.

It's not like it's his business whether Aomine fails or not.

* * *

It's a bit of a pain to get to the store since on the other side of the town but it's totally worth it, Kagami concludes as they enter the shop and take a look at all the merchandise in there. It's pretty much paradise for a basketball player.

They walk around, looking at everything and cursing at not having more money at their disposal, and end up buying nothing. Still, now that they know that the shop really is good, they can visit sometime again when they actually have funds to buy something.

Before heading back home, they decide to grab a bite at a nearby fast-food restaurant. They find a table next to the window and their gazes keep wandering outside, looking at the by-passers disinterestedly. A few minutes pass in comfortable silence before Aomine notices something outside and turns to Kagami.

"Oi, Bakagami! Isn't that Kise?" The redhead looks up and then turns to the window. It really looks like Kise; he's tall, slim and blond and dressed stylishly. However, he has two kids with him, one with red hair and the other blue, and they're both hanging onto Kise's arms in a way that clearly indicates that they've done it before and know that Kise doesn't mind.

"I think so," Kagami says a bit hesitantly. He's never run into Kise out of school before but here he is now, on the other side of town with two kids no less. It feels very intimate since the blond so adamantly keeps his private matters to himself and Kagami's not sure if he wants Kise to know they've seen him.

"You think those kids are his?" Aomine sounds really interested and Kagami feels like punching him. The guy really has no manners.

"Come on, they're too old to be Kise's," he says and shifts a little to be able to follow the three with his eyes. "I'd say they're about ten and there's no way… I mean, Kise would've been like nine or ten himself! Geez."

One of the boys, the bluenette, tugs at Kise's arm and says something. The blond smiles fondly, reaching out to ruffle the blue hair. Both Aomine and Kagami gulp; Kise looks so different somehow, his smile holding a world of love and affection.

"But… chances are they've got something to do with Kise being so weird, right?" Aomine stretches lazily and gets up. Kagami frowns.

"Where are you going?"

"To say hi, isn't that polite?" Aomine smirks at Kagami before sauntering out.

To be honest, Kagami'd rather not go to Kise right now. He and Aomine are here purely by a chance but what if Kise will think they've stalked him or something?

Letting Aomine go by himself doesn't sound appealing either though so Kagami gets up and runs after him. "Oi, wait up!"

* * *

**A/N:** I was able to get this done faster than I thought plus it's kinda long (on my standards) so yay, I'm happy with my work for once~~

Hmm I'm not gonna comment on any speculations about how the story goes yet; however, there's gonna be family issues. Oh and I was thinking that Takao is indeed dating Midorima but whether there's gender bending or not is up to you to decide bc I haven't planned for Midorima to make an appearance either way. (gomen to any MidoTaka shippers out there…)

Just to clarify: the main pairing's gonna be AoKagaKise (or AoKiseKaga or w/e as long as it's these three :'D)

And um someone said I'm adorable? Wut uh I'm really bad at handling compliments and uhhh thanks I guess? Idk man I'll just crawl into a hole now because I don't know how to react….

Afafbfsdfasf oh yeah I saw a promotional post someone made on tumblr about this story and wow while I have no idea why you think this is so great, I'm really flattered (#／。＼#) (btw you can talk to me on tumblr, the link's on my profile /gets shot)

After this random rambling, thanks for the reviews/favourites/follows aaaahhh you have no idea how happy I am to hear people like my word vomit fics /rolls away


	4. One foot in front of the other

**Warnings:** AU. (and a super short chapter D:)

* * *

Kise still remembers that day. The day he came home from school, thinking it was just another Thursday. He remembers exactly how it felt to go into his room and find the note.

"Take care of the twins, Ryouta. We'll send you money every month. – Mom & dad"

He remembers crushing the paper in his hand while fighting his tears, knowing right away what the note meant: his parents wouldn't be coming back.

And if he's honest to himself, he can admit that he didn't, still doesn't, feel all that sad because he never was close to his parents. There was always a distance between them, an invisible wall that kept them from bonding. So in a way it was a relief to have them gone.

But then again it felt like a punch to the gut. He was a high schooler; guys his age weren't supposed to be in charge of taking care of themselves as well as their younger brothers. Besides, he'd been troubled enough as it was, all the bad things seemed to happen to him all at once, and his parents leaving in the midst of that chaos felt like they were telling Ryouta to take care of his own mess.

He remembers feeling even more ashamed than before, thinking that his parents were ashamed of him too, that he was a failure and it was his fault things had gotten so far.

So he cried on the day his parents left.

* * *

If he could, he would erase the last year of middle school. Nothing but bad things happened one after the other back then, and he's been so close to breaking so many times ever since.

But he has no such power so all he can do is keep going and try to make the best of his life. So far it's worked pretty well.

No matter what people say or think about him, Kise Ryouta is strong. He's gone through a lot and yet he's still standing, able to smile cheerfully and charm people with his unending charisma.

Even if no one else thinks that way, he's proud of himself.

But he still doesn't like sharing his past with just anyone, which is why he freezes when Aomine and Kagami suddenly appear in front of him while he's taking a walk with the twins.

_Why are they here? Don't they live close to the uni?_

He wishes they could just say hi and then leave but of course they've spotted the two boys standing next to him, and that means Kise has to explain.

(And while he has been thinking about telling them at some point, this is too soon for his liking.)

* * *

"Your brothers? Oh, okay." Kagami shoots Aomine an I-told-you-so-look and the bluenette rolls his eyes.

"Yeah…" Kise fidgets uncomfortably and Kagami curses Aomine in his head; the blond clearly isn't too happy about seeing them here so why the hell did the idiot bluenette have to run after him?!

Sighing a bit, Kagami turns his attention to the boys standing at Kise's side, partly hiding behind him. They're both as pale as Kise but neither of them has the blond's dazzling smile; in fact their expressions are almost hostile. The redheaded kid keeps staring at Aomine and Kagami in a very discomforting way; the fact that his eyes are mismatched, the other red and the other yellow, doesn't help a bit either.

Kagami feels increasingly uncomfortable under the scrutiny, he needs to say something. "So, uh… you're babysitting them today?"

Slowly, Kise shakes his head. His family situation is complicated and he's always hated talking about it, but he trusts Kagami. And Aomine too, maybe. At least the guy's best friends with Kagami so he can't be a complete douche.

And it's not like he has to share the whole story with the two right now.

"No, they actually live with me." The strained smile that accompanies the words makes the twins step closer to Kise and shoot menacing glances at Aomine and Kagami (which looks kind of funny because they're about half a metre shorter).

Aomine frowns. "Live with you? Where are your parents?"

"…it's been like this for a few years now," Kise replies dismissively.

"That doesn't explain any- OW!" Kagami's foot connects with Aomine's shin, cutting the bluenette off. They start bickering, Aomine complaining about Kagami always being too violent towards him, and only stop when Kise waves his hand with an apologetic smile.

"We have to go now, it's almost dinner time. It was nice to see you though." Kise avoids looking either of them in the eye and the smile he flashes is faked; it's easy to tell he's not being honest, and that bothers Kagami.

No way can he just leave like this, he needs to say something to cheer Kise up. The blond's already gone though, and Aomine's walking the other way, back to the station. It sure would be nice to get home, Kagami's tired – but no.

"You go on ahead, I'll be right there." Kagami turns around and runs after Kise, leaving Aomine too surprised to really react.

"Kise," Kagami calls out. He's blushing again and kind of hates himself for it but right now, he can't concentrate on that. He pulls on the blond's arm and drags him a bit further away from the twins. "I just… uh, if you ever feel like talking about… anything, I'm here for you. And if you ever feel like it, I can watch your brothers so you can go out with Takao or, um, do something else."

And yeah, he doesn't even know if Kise spends all his evenings at home with the twins and that's the reason he doesn't socialise with anyone from school but now Kagami's gone and made assumptions and Kise stares at him in surprise.

_(Can I just die now?!)_

It takes a few seconds of awkward silence before Kise's positively beaming at him, a tint of red appearing on his cheeks. "Thanks, Kagamicchi! You're really amazing, you know that?"

"Wh-what? Me? Aren't you the amazing one?" Kagami's face is most likely on fire now, his heart beat's off the charts, and _why_ did no one ever tell him falling in love makes you feel like dying?

Wait.

_Falling in love?!_

He doesn't have time to process that thought because Kise's laughing and saying something and he has to pay attention.

He can die of mortification of the realisation he just had later.

"I'm really not all that cool but I'm… I'm glad we're friends." Kise blushes and looks away bashfully. "Oh yeah, can I have your number?" he adds as an afterthought, turning to Kagami again.

"My number? Yeah, sure." Kagami feels numb as he takes Kise's phone to put his number in it and sees Kise's nimble fingers working on his phone.

(The passing thought of what else Kise could do with those fingers of his is immediately pushed to the back of Kagami's mind.)

After they've exchanged numbers ("Now I can call you all the time!" Kise announces cheerfully and Kagami's head explodes), the twins start tugging Kise by the arms, sending murderous glares at Kagami for keeping their brother occupied for so long, and they finally part ways.

"See you at school, Kagamicchi!"

_Oh god Kise is really too cute for his own good…_ "Bye."

* * *

When Kagami goes back to Aomine, he gets yelled at for making the bluenette wait so long, but he doesn't care.

Actually he doesn't really even hear it, his mind going back to a thought he had earlier.

_I'm in love with Kise?_

* * *

**A/N: **I rewrote this chapter like 5 times and I'm still not quite happy with it gdi I hate my life OTL (and yes, that is the reason it took so long gomeeennn)

I've had this story idea for quite a few months already and it feels really nice to finally get it out d(-_-)b Originally, I just wanted to write a story in which Kise, Kuroko and Akashi are brothers (in case you didn't figure it out, the twins are Akashi and Kuroko) and all three have brother complexes but then I discovered AoKiseKaga and I just wanted to add that bc OT3 and yeah basically this story is just a clusterfuck of things I've wanted to write so it might not make any sense, gomen OTL

As always, all support is much appreciated~~


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